Kirby: Past Tense
by Nashew
Summary: Strange activity around Dream Land is all pointing to the return of Dark Matter. And it's very similar to what happened twenty years ago... (That may sound cliche, but I'm trying to keep it original!)
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

_The green Waddle Dee stood outside the throne room door, clutching his spear tightly. He had to do this. Taking a deep breath, he pushed open the door and peeked inside. There he was, eating. _

"_Great King...?" _

"_Yes, what is it? I'm busy here!" _

"_Well, it's just that... Well, some of my squadron are starting to feel sick, and—"_

"_And what? I'm no doctor! Take 'em to the medic!" _

"_B-but-!"_

"_No! I don't care about your squadron's bellyaches! Leave me alone!"_

"_... Y... Yessir." _

_The Waddle Dee quietly exited the throne room. Tears welled in his eyes. If he didn't do something about this, his whole squadron could die! He started walking down the hallway, slowly._

"_Go to the medics," he mumbled, mocking the King's voice, "Yeah, Tried that! They didn't know anything!" he stabbed his spear into the ground out of pure frustration. The sound echoed through the mostly-empty hallway outside the throne room door. _

"_And there he sits, eating his lunch while his soldiers die," Said a new voice from down the hallway. _

"_Wha-?" The Waddle Dee looked up, blinking away tears. "Oh, it's you." A Waddle Doo, navy blue in color with dark gray feet, stood at the end of the hallway, leaning on the wall, eye half-closed in what would probably be a frown if he had a mouth._

"_Yeah, it's me. I tried asking the 'King' too. Didn't work. He just doesn't care, even though this is a lot worse than he knows." _

_The Waddle Dee looked at the ground where his spear was still stuck and sighed. _

"_It's getting worse." He held up his stub to show that it was spotted black. The Waddle Doo walked over to inspect it._

"_And now even the squad leaders are getting infected?!" The Waddle Doo yelled, "We have to let someone know about this!" _

"_But who?" The Waddle Dee inquired, "Anyone who could do something, doesn't care enough. And everyone who would care, can't do anything." _

"_Perhaps I could be of assistance?" A voice said from the end of the hallway. _

_At the end of the hallway stood a young Star Warrior, blue in color with purple feet and strange, white eyes, clutching what looked like the hilt of a sword._

"_Who're you?" The Waddle Doo asked commandingly. _

"_My name," The Star Warrior stated calmly, "Is Meta Knight."_

* * *

_-20 Years Later-_

The pink Star Warrior with red feet ran through Grape Gardens. He clearly had somewhere to be. Grabbing a Warp Star which he had hidden in a cave, he began flying to his destination, which just happened to be Mt. Dedede. Or more specifically, the castle atop the mountain.

In the castle, a masked Star Warrior happened to glance out the window and saw the Warp Star speeding toward the top level of the castle. The masked Warrior sighed.

"Dedede, what could you be up to now?" He wondered aloud, and began running toward the throne room.

He got there just in time. Right as he opened the door, the Warp Star crashed through the wall. The pink Star Warrior tumbled to the ground (and bounced a few times) as the Warp Star continued to sail through the air and smashed through the opposite wall.

"**What is going on?!**" an obnoxious voice yelled from the throne. The pink Star Warrior stood up and charged blindly at source of the voice, which was the fat blue penguin, Dedede himself. The pink Star Warrior was of course, Kirby, and the masked one was Meta Knight, but I'm sure you've already picked up on that.

"Gah! Kirby!" Dedede yelled, "I didn't do anything this time, I swear!" Kirby stopped charging and looked confused. He looked at Meta Knight and tilted his head questioningly.

"Are you quite sure, Sire?" Meta Knight inquired. It certainly wouldn't be unlike the self-proclaimed King to have some kind of mischief going on.

"No really!" Dedede said pathetically, "Whatever it was, it wasn't me! Please don't hurt me!" Kirby looked more confused than ever.

"Kirby, what happened?" Meta Knight asked.

"Dark... Dark Matter!" Kirby was still learning to talk properly, but those were words he knew well. And he looked worried.

"What, again?" Dedede yelled.

"Are you sure?" Meta Knight asked, ignoring the King and gripping the hilt of Galaxia. Dream Land had barely survived the last attack. If there was another one about to happen, it would be pure devastation.

Kirby nodded vigorously, and gestured in the direction he had flown from.

Meta Knight unfurled his wings.

"Show me."

* * *

_**Author's Note: **_

**Hello there everyone, and welcome to my new Fanfiction! **

**I hope this doesn't seem too cliché, what with the Dark Matter stuff and all. I'm trying to be as original as possible here. **

**Now, each chapter will be divided, like you saw here, into two segments. One 20 years in the past, and one in what's pretty much the present. **

**So, leave me a review, let me know what ya think! **

**Oh, one more thing. This is **_**not**_** set in the anime universe. It may seem that way, but it's not. **

**Alright, well, **

**Ciao! **

**-Nashew**


	2. Chapter 2: Hope and Destruction

**Review Replies (Chapter 1):**

**shadow kirby 56: Thank you! Hopefully it stays awesome! **

**TechnoDee: Eheheh. It's almost a cliché. He just wouldn't be Meta Knight unless he was extremely knowledgeable. **

* * *

"_Meta Knight?" The blue Waddle Doo scoffed, rolling his eye, "What kind of name is that?"_

"_Would you prefer to find help with a better name?" Meta Knight said threateningly. _

"_**NO!**__" The green Waddle Dee yelled. His cheeks turned red as he realized how loud that was and he lowered his voice, "I, uh... I mean, no, your name is fine." Meta Knight smirked._

"_Well it's settled then. Follow me to my hideout, and I'll tell you what those black spots are," He said, gesturing to the green Waddle Dee's stub, "and how to get rid of it."_

"_Just for the record," the Waddle Doo mumbled to the Waddle Dee as they followed Meta Knight, "I think this is a terrible idea." The Waddle Dee sighed._

"_I agree... But it's our only choice at this point." _

"_I just hope you don't get us killed." _

_Meta Knight's hideout, as it turned out, was in an underground docking bay. It was surprisingly well-lit, with air shafts poking through the ceiling every so often._

_The Waddle Dee sniffed. It smelled like grease and fuel. _

"_What is this place?" He whispered, not daring to talk too loudly even though there was no danger. _

"_This is the place I park my hideout." Meta Knight said, louder than the Waddle Dee liked. It echoed all over the massive bay. _

"_So what's your hideout then?" The Waddle Doo asked sarcastically, "a hot-air balloon?" If Meta Knight noticed the sarcasm, he didn't acknowledge it. _

"_Close, actually. It's over there." He pointed to a rather large silhouette in the center of the room. The Waddle Dee gasped. _

_It was an airship. And it actually did look similar to a hot-air balloon. _

_There was a silver cabin, which was attached firmly to a giant... well, for a lack of a better word, balloon. It was made of high-grade cloth, and colored blue, presumably to match Meta Knight's color. _

"_Woah." The Waddle Doo said._

"_I call it the Baluzen." Meta Knight said proudly, "I made it myself." _

"_You did all this... yourself?" the Waddle Dee asked, amazed. _

"_I did. It's not ready to fly yet though." He sounded a little disappointed, "But that's not why we're here!" He turned to face them. _

"_Oh, right!" the Waddle Dee said, "You said you know what this... black stuff is."_

"_And indeed, I do." Meta Knight responded. "But first, I'd like to know your names. After all, you know mine already." _

"_Oh... Well, my name is Patch." the Waddle Dee said, still looking around at the bay._

"_And mine's Derek." the Waddle Doo said curtly. _

"_Pleased to officially meet you," Meta Knight said, "Now, Patch?" Patch looked back at him. _

"_Huh?" _

"_Let me see your stub again." Patch did as he was told. Meta Knight nodded, "Just wanted to be completely sure." _

"_So what is it?" Derek asked. _

"_It's a dangerous substance called Dark Matter." Meta Knight replied gravely._

* * *

Meta Knight flew closely behind Kirby. As the landscape rushed past, he recalled the last time this had happened. Destroying Zero Two should've been the end of all this. There shouldn't be any more Dark Matter. And yet...

The two Star Warriors finally arrived at their destination: Orange Ocean.

It was supposed to be orange, as the name implied; but right now, it was completely black. They landed on a dock and Meta Knight stared at the dark water.

"Worse..." Kirby said.

"You mean... it wasn't this bad before?" Meta Knight asked, turning to Kirby. Kirby shook his head.

Meta Knight looked back out over the ocean, and to his shock, saw that the blackness was spreading to the nearby beach. Looking down, he noticed the dock they were standing on beginning to darken as well.

"Kirby!" Meta Knight yelled, "The dock!" Kirby understood, and flew back into the air on his Warp Star. Meta Knight flapped his wings and rose back into the air.

"We need to evacuate the planet!" Meta Knight yelled, "Before it's too late!"

* * *

It was too late.

Kirby and Meta Knight, along with the help of Dedede's entire army, had managed to evacuate around a quarter of the planet's population. But that was it. It had been too late for the rest.

And now the Halberd was on a space flight to Floria, the planet closest to Pop Star.

Meta Knight stood alone in the Halberd's bridge, staring out a window at the darkened Pop Star. It was unreal.

"I failed." Meta Knight said.

"It wasn't your... fault." Said Kirby, who had just come from the cafeteria. Meta Knight sighed.

"It was my fault. For reasons you can't possibly understand right now. But it was." Kirby looked at him sadly.

"Can we make it better?" he asked.

"I... I don't know, Kirby." Meta Knight said, "I just don't know."

* * *

_**Author's Note: **_

**Well, that sure did just happen. **

**And yes, Meta Knight's ship from 20 years ago is called the Baluzen. Why? Because Balu = balloon, and zen = something to make it sound cool. Yeah, I'm bad at naming things. **

**Alright guys, feel free to review, and I'll see ya next chapter! **

**Ciao!**

**-Nashew**


	3. Chapter 3: Liftoff and Hope

**Review replies (Chapter 2): **

**TechnoDee: YUSS.**

**greenone15: Well, Gooey is obviously a little different than Dark Matter itself. **

**Thanks! **

**Just Call Me J: Well if you wanna go there, any Kirby final boss could come back any number of times. It's just easier to say that the last time said enemy was seen, it was completely destroyed, especially when I'm partially messing with canon here.**

**shadow kirby 56: Okay, see... when I write, I deviate from canon. Like, a lot sometimes. **

**I have played The Crystal Shards. But keep in mind, this is when Dark Matter was considerably weaker. It got more powerful over time. **

**Ecaroh914: Thank you! **

**(Wow, that's a lot of reviews!)**

"_Dark Matter?" Patch said, "How dangerous is it?" _

"_If not taken care of, it will turn your whole body black, and then possess you, possibly even altering your appearance." Meta Knight replied. _

"_Okay, well this is happening to like, everybody in the castle." Derek said, "So how can we stop it?!" _

_Meta Knight turned to look at the Baluzen, then back at the two Waddles. He held up the sword hilt he had been carrying since they had met. _

"_Do you see this sword hilt?" He asked. They both nodded. "Well, it belongs to a powerful blade called the Galaxia." _

"_Okay, so where's the stabby part?" Derek asked. _

"_That... is the problem." Meta Knight replied. "A long time ago, the two parts of the sword were separated. It was said that whoever found the blade would save Dream Land from disaster. The hilt has been passed down through my family for generations, but none of them have found the blade." _

"_And let me guess," Derek said, "You're gonna be the big hero who finds it. Right?" _

"_Yes, as a matter of fact. I know where it is, and I'm ready to fly there in the Baluzen." _

"_So go!" Derek said. Meta Knight glared at him. _

"_If it were that easy, I would already have the blade." _

"_You need us to come with you, don't you?" Patch spoke up._

"_I need a crew, yes." Meta Knight responded, "That's why I came to the castle, actually." _

"_Well, almost my entire squadron is sick with this Dark Matter stuff." Derek said. _

"_Same here. Although, I know there are a few who are well enough to come." Patch said._

"_Well, go and bring them!" Meta Knight said, "I'll make the final preparations for this journey, and you two meet me back here in an hour with whatever soldiers you can find!" _

"_Yes sir!" Patch said, saluting. _

_With that, Patch and Derek left Meta Knight's hideout. Derek didn't seem very happy. _

"_What are you, crazy, Patch?" Derek exclaimed when they had gotten a fair distance away from the hideout. _

"_What?" Patch asked. _

"_We're just gonna go on this 'adventure' with someone we just met? And take our squads?"_

"_It's the only lead we have..." _

"_... Well, can't argue with that logic I guess." Derek grumbled, "I just don't trust that Meta Knight guy."_

"_Look, we obviously need to be careful about this." Patch said matter-of-factly, "But we can be careful and still go. If there's a cure for this, we'd be stupid to not at least try to find it." Derek sighed. _

"_Fine. You've convinced me. I'll get together any healthy soldiers I can find. But I'm blaming you if we get killed." _

_With that, the two squad leaders walked through the gates to the castle and started rallying their troops. _

_-One hour later...-_

"_All right!" Meta Knight said, obviously very happy with the amount of soldiers gathered, "I guess we're ready for take-off!"_

_With that, he opened the large bay doors, which Patch hadn't noticed before, opened up, ready for the Baluzen to float out of._

_After barking some orders to a few of the nearby Waddle Dees, Meta Knight retreated to the Command Room of the ship, and began liftoff. _

_A few minutes later, the Baluzen was flying south, to the Icy Isles. As they passed over the castle, Patch briefly wondered if he'd ever see it again. _

"_I sure hope we make it back there." Derek said, as if reading Patch's mind. _

"_Yeah... me too." Patch said sadly. _

_Floria is a strange planet. It suffers from an anomaly which causes certain doorways to transport you to the next season in the cycle. However, no actual time passes when you change seasons, so you couldn't use this anomaly to make yourself older or younger, although many have tried. _

_It is unknown why the planet suffers from this, but it certainly makes it a desirable vacation spot._

"I have an idea!" Kirby announced shortly after the Halberd had landed on Floria. Everyone had gathered together in a field located in the summertime to discuss what to do next.

"Oh, what's the pink glutton's idea? Eat everything?" an annoyed Bonkers yelled from the crowd.

"I will not hesitate to tell him to eat _you_." Meta Knight said angrily, glaring at the obnoxious ape. It shut up.

"What was that idea?" Sword Knight, one of Meta Knight's knights, asked.

"NOVA!" Kirby said happily. Someone groaned nearby.

"NOVA was destroyed when you killed Marx Soul, remember?" Blade Knight, the source of the groan, said.

"Oh... Right." Kirby said sadly.

"Good thought though." Sword Knight said.

"Look," Blade Knight started, "The fact is that literally nothing in the universe is strong enough to undo a Dark Matter corruption of this level! Pop Star is gone, that's just how it is." He shook his head and walked away from the group and entered a door which would lead him to autumn.

After a brief pause, the crowd all started talking at once, wondering if what Blade Knight said was correct.

"_**SILENCE!**_" Meta Knight yelled. The crowd was silent instantly.

"Thank you. Blade Knight is wrong. There is yet one thing in the universe powerful enough to abolish Dark Matter... permanently."

"There is?" Sword Knight asked.

"Yes. It is a legendary weapon... a lance, which was used by a legendary Star Warrior... named Galacta Knight."

**A/N: **

**DUN DUN DUUUUN. **

**Yup, Galacta Knight! **

"**But, Nashew! Didn't Galacta Knight get destroyed in KSSU too?" **

**Why yes. Yes he did. However! As I stated in the review replies above, I tend to deviate from canon, like, a lot. **

**I'll obviously explain this in greater detail next chapter, so I'll see ya then... And, **

**Ciao!**

**-Nashew**


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